Operating means for canopy doors



- Jan. 14,1941. D. H. MORGAN. 2,228,608

OPERATING MEANS FOR CANOPY DOORS Filed Jan. 5', 1940' 4 Sheets-Sheet 1Jan. 14,

D. MORGAN 2,228,608

OPERATING MEANS FOR CANOIY DOORS Filed Jan. 5, .1940 4 Sheets-Sheet 2Jan. 14, 1941.

D. I- MQRGAN OPERATING MEANS FOR CANOPY DOORS 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 FiledJan. 5, 1940 Jan. 14, 1941. M N 2,228,608

OPERATING MEANS FOR CANOPY DOORS Filed Jan. 5, 1940 4 Sheets-Sheet 4Patented Jan. 14, 1941 UNITED STATES OPERATING MEANS FOR CANOPY DOORSDavid H. Morgan, Youngstown, Ohio, assignor to Truscon Steel Company,Youngstown, Ohio, a

corporation of Michigan Application January 5, 1940, Serial No. 812,622

3 Claims.

This invention relates to doors, and has particular reference toimprovements in so-called canopy doors; that is to say, doors of thetype which, when open, extend horizontally, or substantiallyhorizontally, forwardly, canopy-like,

from a doorway at or near the top thereof.

Such doors commonly are used for controlling the doorways of aircrafthangars, warehouses and the like, and usually they are quite high,

wide and heavy, often being composed of two or more independent sectionsdisposed in side to side relationship.

Such doors, or door sections, may be composed of a single leaf or of aplurality of leaves. In the latter case they preferably comprise upperand lower leaves, the lower leaf of which is mounted on the upper leafto slide vertically relative thereto to open and close the lower part ofthe doorway when the upper leaf is disposed vertically closing the upperpart of the doorway, and the upper leaf of which is pivoted for swingingmovement between a vertically disposed, closed position and asubstantially horizontally disposed, open position in which it extendsforwardly from the doorway at the top thereof and carries with it thelower leaf which is disposed therebeneath in raised or open positionwith respect thereto.

The present invention relates more particularly to operating means forsuch doors, and in that connection one principal object of the inventionis to provide an operating means which is disposed to leave the spaceadjacent to and behind the door unobstructed for substantially the fullheight of the doorway to render said space avail- .35 able for storageor other purposes, and which embodies a construction and mode ofoperation suchthat a power shaft rotating at constant speed and underuniform power exerts a progressively increasing force upon the door toswing the same to open position, regardless of whether the door iscomposed of a single leaf or of upper and lower leaves.

Another special object of the present invention is to provide anoperating means which, when associated with doors of the type mentionedhaving upper and lower leaves, is operable to raise and control loweringof the lower leaf without disturbing the vertical disposition of theupper leaf, and which, by continuous, smooth operation is elfectivefirst to, raise the lower leaf relative to the upper leaf and then toswing the two leaves as a unit to canopy-like position to completelyopen the doorway.

Another special object of the present invention is to provide anoperating means for doors of the type mentioned which is simple,practical, and thoroughly reliable and efilcient in operation.

With the foregoing and other objects in view, which will become morefully apparent as the nature of the invention is better understood, the5 same consists in the novel features of construction, combination andarrangement of parts as will be hereinafter more fully described,illustrated in the accompanying drawings and defined in the appendedclaims. .10

In the accompanying drawings, wherein like characters of referencedenote corresponding parts in related views:

Figure l is a vertical, transverse section through a door and itsoperating means constructed in 15 accordance with one practicalembodiment of the invention.

Figure 2 is a section on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1. Figure 3 is adiagrammatic perspective view of the present door operating means. 20

Figure 4 is an enlarged view similar to Fig. 1 of the upper part of thedoor structure showing the lower leaf of the door raised relative to theupper leaf thereof- Figure 5 is a view similar to Fig. 4 showing the 25upper and lower leaves swung as a unit to canopylike open position.

Figure 6 is a top plan view of the door structure and of the dooroperating means.

Figure 7 is an enlarged top plan view of the door structure.

Figure 8 is an enlarged rear elevation, partly in section, of the upperpart of the door structure.

Figures 9 and 10 are enlarged cross sections 3 on the lines 9-9 andHll0, respectively, of Fig.- 1.

Figure 11 is a section on the line |lH of Fig. 10. v

Figure 12 is an enlarged top plan view of part 40 of the door operatingmechanism.

Figure 13 is a longitudinal section through the part of the dooroperating mechanism shown in Fig. 12; and

Figure 14 is a transverse section through thepart of the door operatingmechanism shown in Fi 12.

Referring to the drawings in detail, A designates a part of a buildingstructure having a doorway a and B designates, generally, canopy 50 doorcontrolling said doorway.

In the present instance the door B is illustrated as comprising upperand lower leaves designated as l0 and I I, respectively, and within thepurview of the invention these leaves may be of any suitable or desiredspecific construction. They accordingly have not been illustrated indetail, but have been indicated conventionally as of panel form.

The upper leaf I6 is hinged in any suitable manner, as indicated at l2,at or near its top, to the building structure A at or near the top ofthe doorway a, for swinging movement between a vertically disposed,closed position and a substantially horizontally disposed, open positionin which it extends, canopy-like, forwardly from the building structureat the top of the doorway a. On the other hand, the lower leaf H ismounted in any suitable manner on the upper leaf In for vertical slidingmovement between raised and lowered positions relative thereto. In thislatter connection and as illustrated in the present instance, the upperleaf lll includes a vertically disposed I-beam l3 having welded orotherwise suitably secured to its web a pair of angle members I4 which,in conjunction with the flanges l5 at the inner side of saidI-beam,-provide roller trackways. On the other hand, the lower leaf 1 lincludes a pair of vertically disposed channel members 16 which arelocated at opposite sides of the I-beam l3 and the flanges 11 of whichconstitute roller trackways.

Near the bottom of the upper leaf 19 the I-beam 13 carries rollers l8which are disposed in the trackways afforded by the flanges ll of thechannel members 16, while near their tops the channel members 16 carryrollers 59 which are disposed in the trackways afforded by the anglemembers l4 and the aforesaid flanges 15 at the inner side of the I-beaml3. Thus, the lower leaf is mounted on the upper leaf for free slidingvertical movement relative thereto.

The'upper leaf I0 is of a height to control approximately the upper halfof the doorway a, and the lower leaf II. is of a height to control theremaining or lower portion of said doorway. The lower leaf is disposedinwardly relative to the upper leaf to slide behind said upper leaf, andwhen said lower leaf is' lowered its top is disposed only slightly abovethe bottom of the upper leaf. Accordingly, the channel members 16 extendsuitably above the top of the lower leaf so that when the lower leaf'is' lowered the rollers 18 and I9 are sufficiently spaced apart tofirmly support the lower leaf upon the upper leaf.

The I-beam 13 or some other suitable part of the upper leaf structurepreferably carries suitable stop means to be engaged by some suitablepart of the lower leaf structure to limit upward movement of the lowerleaf relative to the upper leaf, the arrangement in this respectcomprising, for example, stop pieces 29 fixed to the I-beam l3 near thetop thereof to be engaged by the tops of the channel members It to stopupward movement of the lower leaf relative to the upper leaf when thebottom of the the lower leaf is substantially at the level of the bottomof the upper leaf.

Preferably, the channel members 16 carry at their outer sides, above thetop of the lower leaf I I, rollers 2| which, when the lower leaf israised relative to the upper leaf,are disposed to ride behind suitablefixed trackways 22 when'the two leaves subsequently are swung as a unitfrom vertical toward horizontal position, thereby to insure against thelower leaf sliding downwardly relative to the upper leaf during swingingmovement of said leaves. The trackways 22 may be supported in anysuitable manner, as for example, upon apair of plates23 securedto' anddepending from' a pair 'of channel members 2-1 disposed horizontally ator near the top of the doorway a and constituting part of the buildingstructure.

Supported in any suitable manner at a point spaced inwardly from thedoor B and not far below the level of the top of the doorway a is ahorizontally disposed shaft 25 which extends parallel to the door andwhich has fixed thereon a pair of cable drums 26 and 21, the former ofwhich preferably is cylindrical and the latter of which is of conical ortapered form so that it is larger at one end than at the other.

- Appropriately, the shaft 25 may be supported by bearings 28 carried bya suitable framework carried by the channel members 24, said frame- Workcomprising, for example, plates 29 fixed to and depending from saidchannel members 24, angle members 30 fixed to said plates 23 andsupportinga pair of the bearings 28, and channel members 3|. fixed tosaid angle members and carrying another angle member 32 supportinganother of the bearings 28.

Also supported in any suitable manner in- Wardly of the door andadjacent thereto, near the top of the doorway a, is a power shaft 33which ishorizontally disposed and extends parallel to thedoor. Thisshaft maybe supported, for example, by bearings carried by the plates23. In any event, said power shaft hasfixed thereon a cable drum 34 andhas loosely mounted thereon a sheave 35.

Fixed at one end to the drum 21 atthe larger end of the latter is acable 36 which extends from said drum forwardly'over the sheave 35, thendownwardly beneath a sheave 31 carried by the lower door leaf II andthen upwardlyto the drum 34 to which it is fixed'at its other end. Othercables 38,38 are fixed at corresponding ends to opposite ends of thedrum 26 and-extend from said drum upwardly and outwardly over sheaves39, 39 carried by-the-upper 'portion of the I-beam 13 near the topthereof and thenextend downwardly and-inwardly to points adjacent to thedrum -26 "where-they 'are anchored as indicated at-ML-their anchoragecomprising, for ex-- amplea suitable mernber which is pivoted to one ofthe channel members'SI sothat it may swing as-the angularity of thecables 38 relative to said channel member varies 'during opening and'closing of the "door, and which is adjustable'in 'length to take up anyinitial -or 'developedslack in the cables 38, 38.

When the door is closed with the leaves thereof disposed vertically andthe lower leaf lowered relative to the upper leaf,'the cables 38" areun-" wound from; the" drum 26 and the cable 35 is wound onto the drum21, extending from the smaller end of said drum 21 over the 'sheaves35and 31 and then to the drum '34. Under'such conditions, when power is'applied to the shaft 33 to rotate the drum 34 in'a direction 'towind the7 cable 36 thereon the lower door leaf will belifted and the upper doorleaf will not be swung'until the lower leaf has been raised intoengagement because more effort is required to swing the'leaves than isrequired'to raise the lower leaf relative to the upper leaf'andjbecause' the cable 36 therefore does not unwind from the drum 21;since to do so wouldrequire'windingof the'c'ables 38'onto' on, theportion of said cable'between thesheave 35" and the drum" 21 remainsunmovableuntil' lb with the stop means 20 of the'upper door'leaf,"

the lower door leaf contacts the stop means 20, but the portions of saidcable between the sheave 3! and the drum 34 and the sheave 35 becomeforeshortened with the result that the lower door leaf is raised. Thusit is apparent that the lower door leaf may be raised and lowered toopen and close the lower part .of the doorway without disturbing thevertically disposed, closed position of the upper door leaf.

When the lower door leaf is fully raised and engages the stop means 20,any continued rotation of the drum 34 to wind the cable 36 thereonobviously must result in unwinding of said cable 36 from the drum 2'!with consequent rotation not only of said drum 21, but also of the drum26. Accordingly, if rotation of the drum 34 in a direction to wind thecable 36 thereon is continued after the lower door leaf has been fullyraised, the drum 26 is rotated with the result that larger diameter endof said drum and consequently exerts increasing turning effort upon theshaft 25 and the drum 26. Therefore, progressively increased power isapplied to the lever arm constituted by the upper portion of the I-beaml3 to swing the door leaves to canopy-like position as such swingingmovement of said door leaves progresses. As the door begins to swing,the rollers 2| move behind the trackways 22 which are concentric withrespect to the pivot l2 of the upper door leaf and thereby insureagainst any possibility of the lower leaf accidentally moving downwardlyrelative to the upper leaf during swinging of said leaves.

Preferably, but not necessarily, a second cable 41 is fixed at one endto the drum 34 and extends therefrom over a suitable sheave or sheaves42 and at its other end is provided with a counterweight 43. The cables36 and 4| may be attached to opposite ends of the drum 34 so that as oneof said cables is wound onto said drum the other is unwound therefrom.In this way the door 010- viously may be effectively counterbalanced.

To close the door the shaft 33 simply is permitted to rotate in adirection to unwind the cable 36 from the drum 34 at any desired rate ofspeed, whereupon the door leaves gravitate to their closed positions.

Obviously, the operating mechanism described may be used upon singleleaf doors as well as upon dual leaf doors, either in the mannerillustrated and described or simply by extending the cable 36 from thedrum 21 directly to the drum 34. Obviously, too, since the presentoperating mechanism is disposed high relative to the door, it permitsuse of the space behind and adjacent to the door for storage or otherpurposes substantially throughout the height of the door.

If desired, only a single cable such as either of the cables 38 may beemployed in lieu of two such cables. Moreover, it will, of course, be

understood that as many mechanisms as de-' scribed and as desired may beused on any given door or door section, and that in the case of a doorembodying two or more sections, the power shaft 33 may be common to theoperating mechanisms of all of the sections.

Without further description it is thought that the features andadvantages of the invention will be readily apparent to those skilled inthe art, and it will of course be understood that changes respectively,a lower leaf mounted on said upper leaf for vertical sliding movementbetween raised and lowered open and closed positions, respectively,relative thereto, stop means to limit upward movement of. said lowerleaf relative to said upper leaf, a lever arm extending upwardly fromthe upper door leaf above the pivot thereof, a pair of unitarilyrotatable drums having afixed location spaced downwardly and inwardlyfrom the upper end portion of said lever arm when the upper door leaf isdisposed vertically, one of said drums being cylindrical and the otherbeing of increasin diameter from one end toward the other end thereof, acable connecting said cylindrical drum with an upper end portion of saidlever arm, a power shaft, a drum on said power shaft, a sheave on thelower door leaf, and a second cable wound on said drum of increasingdiameter from the larger toward the smaller end thereof when the upperdoor leaf is disposed vertically and extending from the smaller end ofsaid drum beneath the sheave carried by said lower door leaf and thenupwardly to the drum on said power shaft, whereby continuous rotation ofsaid power shaft under uniform power in a direction to wind said secondcable onto the drum carried thereby first effects raising of said lowerdoor leaf relative to said upper door leaf and then effects unwinding ofsaid second cable from said drum of increasing diameter, therebyrotating the cylindrical drum to wind said first mentioned cable thereonand thus swing the two door leaves as a unit toward open position, and

ward movement of said lower leaf relative to said upper leaf, a leverarm extending upwardly from the upper door leaf above the pivot thereof,a pair of unitarily rotatable drums having a fixed location spaceddownwardly and inwardly from the upper portion of said lever arm whenthe upper door leaf is disposed vertically, one of said drums beingcylindrical and the other being of increasing diameter from one endtoward'the other end thereof, a sheave carried by the upper portion ofsaid lever arm, a cable anchored at one end adjacent to said cylindricaldrum and extending from its anchorage over said sheave and then to saidcylindrical drum, wherebyrota. tion of said cylindrical drum in adirection to wind said cable thereon effects swinging movement of thedoor leaves toward open position, a power drum and an idler sheavelocated adjacent to the door, a sheave carried by said lower door leaf,and a second cable wound on said drum of increasing diameter from'thelarger toward the smaller end thereof when the upper door leaf isdisposed vertically and extending from the smaller end of said drum oversaid idler'sheave, then downwardly and beneath the sheave'carried bysaid lower door leaf and then upwardly to saidpower drum, wherebycontinuousrotation of said power drum under uniform power in a directionto wind said second cable thereon first effects raising of the lowerdoor leaf and then effects unwinding of said second cable from said drumof increasing diameter, thereby rotating the cylindrical drum to windsaid first mentioned cable thereon and thus swing the two door leaves asa unit toward open position, and imposing a progressively increasingopening force on said leaves as they swing toward open position.

3. A door comprising an upper leaf pivoted for swinging movement betweenvertical and substantially horizontal closed and open positions,respectively, a lower leaf mounted on said upper leaf for verticalsliding movement between raised and lowered open and closed positions,respectively, relative thereto, stop means to limits upward movement ofthe lower leaf relative to the upper leaf, a lever arm extendingupwardly from the upper leaf above the pivot thereof, a pair ofunitarily rotatable drums having a fixed location spaced downwardly andinwardly from the upperportion of said lever arm when the upper doorleaf is disposed vertically, a cable connecting one of said drums withan upper end portion of said lever arm, a power shaft, a drum on saidpower shaft, a sheave on the lower door leaf, and-a second cable woundon the other of said pair of drums when the upper door leaf is disposedvertically and extending therefrom beneath the sheave on lower door leafand then upwardly to the drum on said power shaft,whereby continuousrotation of the power shaft in a direction to wind said second cableonto the drum carried thereby first effects raising of said lower doorleaf relative to said upper door leaf and then effects unwinding of saidsecond cable from the related drum of said pair of drums, therebyrotating the other of said pair of drums to wind said first mentionedcable thereon and thus swing the two door leaves as a unit toward openposition, one of said pair of drums'being cylindrical, the other of saidpair of drums being tapered and having its associated cable relatedthereto so as to impose a progressively increasing leverage upon and aprogressively increasing rate of opening swinging movement to the doorleaves as they swing toward open position under constant speed andtorque of the power shaft.

DAVID H. MORGAN.

